Deputy First Minister John Swinney has spoken out about the likelihood of mask wearing taking us all the way through to December.
In an announcement on Tuesday, July 13, Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that Scotland would be moving to a revised level 0 of Coronavirus restrictions.
More people will be allowed to attend weddings and funerals, physical distancing has been reduced to one meter and larger groups can meet to socialise.
One restriction that will not be easing is the mandatory wearing of face masks.
John Swinney, deputy first minister, spoke to BBC Drivetime about why face masks are very much here to stay for the time being.
He said that parliament are determined to being “clear and committed” when it comes to enforcing the rules surrounding face masks.
A face mask free Christmas?
When asked if face masks will be around until Christmas, the deputy first minster said that it was “perfectly conceivable.”
Mr Swinney stressed the importance of slowing the spread of the virus by making it more difficult for it to pass between people.
He said: “I think that we should recongise that we have got to take a careful and cautious approach to the suppression of Covid.
“That may take us time, we know the virus will be with us for a long time, so the more that we can do at a gradual, elementary level to provide obstacles and barriers to the circulation of the virus, the more we should do that.”
He emphasised that the wearing of face masks is not only to protect ourselves, but anyone we come into contact with who may be clinically extremely vulnerable.
“There will be people who can’t accept the vaccine, which is why as a whole population we have to do the things which are relatively minor to protect those individuals and to enable them to have much greater access to society by the wearing of face coverings.”
Between 2,500 and 10,500 new infections per day
Recently released modelling estimate that, on July 19, there could be between 2,500 and 10,500 new infections per day.
Mr Swinney said he expects that the levels will be on the lower end of this estimation.
He said: “On the basis of what we’re seeing just now, I think it is much more likely to be closer to the lower end of that spectrum than the higher end, but I have to accept that with all modelling there is variation.”
The easing of restrictions is combined with a need to exercise caution.
“We can play around with these numbers all we want but we have to make a judgment based on this data about what is the likely pattern of the virus as best as we can predict.
“Based on what we’ve been seeing over the past few weeks, we believe that the significance of the virus is reducing and moving in the right direction.”
‘Every single death is a tragedy’
Both positive cases and Covid related deaths have been rising in Scotland in recent days.
The deputy first minister was asked whether he expected to see cases and deaths rising as restrictions continue to ease.
He said: “I would certainly like to believe that we should be seeing cases per day reducing. We are optimistic that the very high levels that we’ve experienced in recent weeks are beginning to reduce, but they remain very high.
“We are seeing very small numbers of deaths compared to the numbers we have had previously in the pandemic, but every single death is a tragedy.”
Mr Swinney spoke of the success of the vaccination programme, but highlighted that it is not enough to stop the spread of the virus.
He said: “The vaccination programme has obviously been successful and comprehensive and provides a huge amount of assurance, but it doesn’t prevent the serious implications that Covid can have on individuals. We are trying to minimise that as much as we can.”
‘We’re exercising a great deal of caution’
Crowd sizes have been a popular topic of conversation since the Euro 2020 final on Sunday, July 11.
Mr Swinney said the guidance around crowd sizes will not be changing with other rules on Monday.
He said: “We are not raising the level of gatherings at this stage. We are obviously looking at that very closely and will make judgements on it in due course as we see the suppression of the virus as we hope to see.
“We’re exercising a great deal of caution here because the virus remains a significant threat to the population.”
When it comes to face masks in schools, Mr Swinney said the issue is still being looked at by specialists, though guidance is expected to be set out “very shortly.”
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